How The Philippines Stood Up Against Hitler and Saved Over 1,200 Jewish Refugees

Philippines president Manuel L. Quezon (center at mic) welcoming Jewish refugees April 23, 1940 at the dedication of Marikina Hall, which he constructed on his own property to house the newly arrived immigrants. To his left is Alex Frieder (white suit/seated), chairman of the Philippines Jewish Refugee Committee, and to the right (white suit/standing) is Herbert Frieder. (Courtesy 'Rescue in the Philippines')

Ten-year-old Jewish refugee George Lowenstein (standing at mic), who arrived in the Philippines as a toddler, attends a bar mitzvah celebration in 1945 in his new country. (Courtesy of George Lowenstein)

The Frieders at the dedication of Marikina Hall with Filipino President Manuel L. Quezon (reclining far right/front) April 23, 1940. Pictured are Alex Frieder (center), speaking to his brother Herbert; and in the left forefront, Alex’s wife Corinne (white hat with black band) and to her right, daughter Alice. (Courtesy 'Rescue in the Philippines')

It is a well-known fact that the Philippines and its people are commonly and globally associated with compassion and kindness. A lesser known fact, is that the Philippines welcomed and offered a safe haven for persecuted Jews from Europe during WW2 and Hitler’s horrific campaign that ravaged Germany and Europe.

It was Manuel L. Quezon, then president of the Philippines, who opened the country and instituted an Open Door policy in an attempt to save as much refugees as he could. Of course, this was without controversy and pushback internally and from the U.S. government.

But President Quezon persisted, and as a result, it is reported that this Open Door Policy saved close to 1,300 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust. It was in 1934 that Jewish refugees were admitted and found haven in the Philippine Capital and were later called “Manilaners”.

According to some sources, were it not for interference by the United States government, however, there could have been thousands more rescued Jews. While Quezon had wanted to bring tens of thousands of Jews to the Philippines to continue saving them and permanently settle them on the island of Mindanao, his efforts were stifled by the US government, who limited him and his administraction to accept only 1,000 Jews a year, over a 10 year period. Reasons for this cap is unknown.

“In this time of rising anti-Semitism, this story of my country’s Open Doors Policy shows how plain decency can triumph over raging prejudice — which seems so irresistible when all we have to counter it is the soft quality of caring. It is a great moral victory that recognizes every life saved as immeasurably valuable for containing the infinite possibilities of a single human life”, said Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Philippines Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. in his keynote speech during Holocaust Remembrance Day in New York in 2020.

The Philippines’ history and important legacy of providing asylum and protection to the forcibly displaced goes beyond the Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust. These policies of compassion extended to Spanish republicans fleeing the end of the Spanish Civil war, Vietnamese “boat people” fleeing the Vietnam War, and many others through out the course of history.

A number of documentaries and films were made to tell the story, including “Quezon’s Game”, a dramatized film that was released in theaters in 2018 and currently still available on-demand on multiple platforms. Additionally, “An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines” is a documentary with interviews of people directly involved as well as surviving refugees in the Philippines.

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